A High Court has ruled a sex offender’s human rights were violated by police after they told his employer he had a conviction for assaulting a child.

The man, who can only be identified as W, was sacked after his boss was told by police about an attack on a three-year-old in 1987 and a further arrest in 2007.

Justice Nicol, who presided over the case, said Northumbria Police had failed to consider Home Office guidelines before “unlawfully” passing on information about the 1987 conviction, for which W received a 12-month supervision order.